German Grand Prix – Practice, Friday – 18.07.08
Weather: Light rain and wet track in the morning, dry in
the afternoon, 16-23 °C Air, 16-34°C Track
Hockenheim (DE). In changing weather conditions BMW Sauber
F1 Team drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished the
second practice session of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheimring
on positions 8 and 9. Heidfeld, as usual driving with a special
helmet design at the German Grand Prix, also finished the
first practice session in the morning without any problems
(position 8). Kubica lost control of his car on the partly
wet track in lap 8 and hit the barrier. However, the team
was able to rebuild the left side of his BMW Sauber F1.08
before the start of the second session.
Robert Kubica: BMW Sauber F1.08-05 / BMW
P86/8 1st Practice: 19th, 1:18.779 min / 2nd Practice: 8th,
1:16.363 min “We tested the tyre compounds and did some
basic set-up work. Unfortunately, this morning I touched the
white line with the grooved tyres. There was some standing
water. I lost control of the car and hit the barrier. However,
we did not miss a lot of running time in the dry. This afternoon
we were more or less able to complete the programme as planned.
We now have to analyze the data and improve the balance of
the car.”
Nick Heidfeld: BMW Sauber F1.08-07 / BMW
P86/8 1st Practice: 8th, 1:16.719 min / 2nd Practice: 9th,
1:16.377 min “Compared to last week’s test the
car’s balance was better today. We have made several
changes during the practice sessions and completed the tyre
comparison. After wet conditions this morning, we knew there
was a chance of more rain at the end of the second session.
Consequently we switched to soft tyres earlier than usual.
Overall both sessions went quite well.”
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): “After
the conditions were bad in the first free practice, we had
a very busy afternoon session, trying to work on the car as
much as possible. We mainly concentrated on the tyre evaluation
but also did some set-up work. However, the conditions were
not consistent which gave us a bit of a challenge also in
the afternoon. Nonetheless, we are quite happy with our pace.
According to the weather forecast, it could be raining tomorrow,
but we expect dry conditions on Sunday. Therefore it was important
to collect a lot of data today.”
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